TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is due to arrive in Tajikistan on Tuesday to hold talks with senior Tajik officials, take part in the upcoming summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and also participate in the inauguration ceremony of Phase-II of Sangtoudeh-II Dam and Power Plant which has been constructed through Iran's major partnership."President Rouhani will travel to Dushanbe on Tuesday to take part in the SCO Summit," Tajik Ambassador to Tehran Nematollah Emamzadeh told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony marking Tajikistan's National Day on Saturday.
He noted that during his three-day visit, President Rouhani and his Tajik counterpart are also expected to sign several cooperation pacts during their meetings in Dushanbe.
"The power plant constructed by the Iranian engineers will also be inaugurated during President Rouhani's visit to Tajikistan," the Tajik envoy added.
Emamzadeh pointed to the cooperation of Iranian investors in Tajikistan, and said, "Iran is seen as a major investor in Tajikistan and more than 150 Iranian companies are active and make investments in Tajikistan."
He noted that Iranian investors can help Tajikistan in road construction, bridge construction, water networks, oil and transportation.
The Iranian president will participate in the SCO summit on September 12-13.
Founded in 2001, the SCO comprises Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The organization consolidates efforts to counter terrorism and radicalization among member countries, and also works on other policy areas such as politics and trade.
Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan have observer status, while Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey are classed as dialogue partners of the SCO.
Iran and Tajikistan have recently accelerated expansion of their ties and cooperation and observers believe that the good achievements gained in area of their mutual cooperation should be deemed as a result of the efforts made by the two countries officials.
On September 13, 2013, President Rouhani stressed the expansion of the mutual relations and cooperation between Iran and Tajikistan in a meeting with his Tajik counterpart in the Kyrgyz capital city of Bishkek and on the sidelines of the last year SCO summit.
In April, Iranian experts completed the second phase of the Sangtoudeh-II power plant in Tajikistan and connected it to Tajikistan's national power grid, but the project will be inaugurated officially next week.
Two 110MW units of the power plant are now supplying power to the national power grid.
Mehdi Malekpour, the director of Sangtoudeh-II dam and power plant, said in April that all the designing and building operations have been conducted by Iranian engineers.
The first turbine of Sangtoudeh-II power plant, some 180 kilometers from the capital, Dushanbe, was inaugurated in 2011 simultaneous with Tajikistan's Independence Day.
The Iranian contractor will deliver the plant's operation management to Tajikistan in 12 years.
Sangtoudeh-II power plant has the capacity to produce 220 megawatts of electricity. It will increase Tajikistan's annual power output to 1bln kilowatt/hours.
Iran has contributed $180bln to the construction of Sangtoudeh-II and Tajikistan's share is $40bln.
Sangtoudeh-II is located 120 km Southeast of the Capital city of Dushanbe.
By Fars News Agency
The Iran Project is not responsible for the content of quoted articles.
